The Halloween Incidents
by Sgt.Pepperony
Summary: Ellie and Alec's first Halloween together leads to a few comical moments that warm up the autumn weather. [Part 6 of New Memories, New Life] *Complete*
1. Alec and Ellie and Pumpkin Carving

**Title:** The Halloween Incidents~  
 **Author:** Sgt. Pepperony  
 **Fandom:** Broadchurch  
 **Rating:** T  
 **Pairing:** Alec/Ellie (established)  
 **Disclaimer:** As far as I am aware, I do not own Broadchurch or the characters. All property belongs to Chris Chibnall. OCs are mine.

 **Okay, not the one that I said I was doing next but its Halloween next week and these are just little vignettes of less than five hundred words so they are quick, cute and snappy.**

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Alec and Ellie and Pumpkin Carving

Alec Hardy had mixed feelings on Halloween. It was just an American thing that the Brits just adopted so that the shops could extort more money out of people before Christmas, and even that was coming early. He swore he saw Christmas cards in August. On the other hand, Daisy had always loved it. Mostly because it meant free chocolate but she loved dressing up. Though since she hit the teenage years, it's gone from Disney Princesses to nurse outfits that clearly made by people who hadn't seen an actual nurse's uniform.

It actually surprised him when he found out Ellie loved it. Well, it wasn't so much the holiday as much as it was the season. He found this out on their first date when he took her to the autumn festival (it wasn't so much a date since Tom and Daisy were around and they had Fred between them) and seeing her face light up in the slightly cold air. It was there when they both challenged one another to carve a pumpkin. Alec had never been good at it. The one year he tried to make a jackal lantern for Daisy, it resulted in the kitchen being a total mess and the insides being wasted because he forgot how to make pumpkin soup.

Turned out Ellie wasn't much better. Fred hand been kept occupied by the 'kid safe' pumpkin carving which just involved slotting bits of Mr Potato Head into holes in actual pumpkins.

"What the hell is that meant to be?" Alec asked when Ellie presented hers.

"It's a moon." It didn't look like a moon. It looked like a D-shape but without the middle to make it clear. Granted her attempt at stars were a bit better, though they were four-pointed. "It's not that bad. If it's that bad then show me yours."

Alec did. Ellie squinted in confusion.

"It was meant to be a cat." Ellie burst out laughing. The ears were lopsided and Alec had accidently cut the nose off. "I knew this was a bad idea."

"Oh come on, it's not that bad. It's Halloween. It's meant to look somewhat deformed."

"So what's your excuse for your moon?"

Ellie giggled, "I think Fred's is scarier than ours."

Fred presented his pumpkin with all the attachments. Alec and Ellie smiled at his enthusiasm.

Later at home, they lit their lanterns and laughed at the mangled mess their carvings produced. In Alec's cottage, with the fire on and drinking the hot pumpkin-spiced cider that they got from the festival, with Fred asleep and the teenagers still out, Ellie had a glow on her cheeks and Alec wasn't sure if it was the heat from the fire or the cold air. Regardless he kissed her and snuggled up with her until she fell asleep in his arms on the sofa. He didn't dare wake her, content to just let her rest and feel her body against his.


	2. Alec and Fred and the 'Scary Ghost'

Alec and Fred and the 'Scary Ghost'

It was meant to be a kid-friendly barn party. Right up until the moment when some drunk idiot went and put a scary voice on and freaked out the little kids. Fred had decided he wanted Alec for the protection by means of clinging to Alec's trousers and weeping into the material.

"Come on Mate," Alec said lifting Fred up and Fred wrapped his arms around Alec's neck. "It's okay, it's just someone being silly."

"Don't like it." Alec looked to Ellie and they silently agreed that Alec would take Fred home. "Don't like it."

"Okay, we're going home now." Fred wasn't particularly light at two and a half but he was clinging so tightly Alec didn't really have a choice. "It's okay. He's gone."

Fred proved to be rather difficult to get settled and Alec was very close to finding the idiot who put the voice on and burying him in a ditch somewhere. He was on the fourth book and every time Alec would try to settle Fred by tucking him in and turning off the light, Fred would whimper, "No. Ghosty."

Alec wasn't too sure what to do, and then got an idea. He quickly found the tea-light and lit the candle. Fred had pulled his blanket up by his head.

"Here we go, no ghosts can get in now. Ghosts don't like light. Makes them go invisible." Fred didn't look as though he believed Alec. "It's true. When I was your age, there was a ghost going over the lowlands and I used to be scared that he would break into my bedroom. Then my mum she would light a candle and the ghost never came." It was a lie but only a little one in the vein of a fairy story, and Fred believed them. Fred still didn't look convinced but still lay his head down.

"Story," Fred ordered. Alec picked out something quick and soon both Fred and Alec were asleep.

Ellie returned later and was bewildered about how Alec could fit on a toddler bed but woke him up to drag him to their bed. He was conked out the second he lay his head down. The next morning, Alec went out to the shop and bought a car night light and Fred slept a lot easier the next night.


	3. Daisy and Tom and the Local Legend

Daisy and Tom and the Local Ledgend

Being from a city, Daisy had never been subjected to any local stories about spooky events that happened around the town. So when she and Tom went to the annual bonfire just outside the town, she got to hear some of these mad stories. It was an unofficial event that the local youth had adopted and the adults sort of allowed them to do it.

Apparently there was a ghost on a bridge leading out of the town that only turned up on 1st November, and Tom seemed rather eager to tell Daisy this story, "You can tell he is near because the air goes ice cold. I swear I saw him once coming back from Jack's."

Daisy looked as though she didn't believe him. She, like her father, was very much a sceptic, especially after she was told Father Christmas didn't exist, "Oh come off it Tom. That bridge is not haunted."

"It's true."

"Right, the reason it's cold is because of the sea air and it's the start of November. Besides what could have happened to this person that the bridge has to be haunted."

"Well, according to the story, there was a kid named Henry who was playing out by the stream. This was in the eighteen hundreds or something but long story short he tripped and fell into the water and drowned."

"That sucks."

"Well, there is a reason why we get more tourism in the autumn: people do believe that his ghost haunts the bridge and so they try to get a glimpse of him. Not every town has a ghost story that resulted in the town being renamed after the kid."

"The kid was called Henry Broadchurch?"

"What's wrong with that?"

"That has to be the biggest load of bullshit I have ever heard."

"You know what your problem is? You need proof."

"I was raised by two detectives." They got to the bridge and felt a cold air surround them, but Daisy still remained unconvinced. "As I said: stream and November." All of a sudden they hear a branch snap. "It could be some animal."

Then another branch snapped.

"I think we should run," Tom said quietly.

"I'm on crutches."

"Then hobble quickly."

They never spoke of their experience with the bridge. Daisy was still not convinced it was a ghost that night while Tom still maintained that it could have easily been the ghost of Henry Broadchurch. What they hadn't noticed that was Mrs Porter, on her latest escape from the Oakdale Retirement Home, emerging from the bank just five seconds after they hurried away


	4. Alec and Ellie and the Time Alone

ALec and Ellie and the Time Alone

At the Halloween party they were hosting, Alec pulled Ellie into a bathroom for a quick snog. Alec had never really been a massive drinker but about three cups of the punch had gotten him slightly more hands-on than usual. He had her pinned against the door, lips caressing the skin of her neck and his hand slipping under her dress.

"Bloody hell, what has gotten into you?" Ellie moaned. It didn't stop her pulling off the jacket he was sporting.

"Can I not make out with my lover in her bathroom?" His hand had moved to her bum as he gently caressed it. Ellie hooked a leg around him.

"Just thinking this doesn't seem very you."

"Well when you're dressed as the sexiest witch…"

"You want to wait until later?"

"Do you?"

Ellie bit her lip and whispered, "As long as we're quiet."

They later emerged from the bathroom and straightened themselves up. Alec cupped her face and kissed her again, "You're perfect."

"Well, I do aim to please." He kissed her again, only for five year old Gemma Parsons to stare at them. "Hi Gemma."

"You were making funny noises," she said. "They were like the ones Mummy and Daddy make at home."

Alec and Ellie looked at each other, unsure what to say because they could make the situation worse. In the end, Ellie ended up saying, "Just be careful of the lock, it's a bit stiff."

Gemma didn't mention what she had heard through the bathroom door. At least not to her parents. She mentioned to Lucy what she heard and Ellie didn't hear the end of it for a week.


	5. The Costume Dilemma

The Costume Dilemma

"What on earth are you meant to be?" Alec asked when Daisy came downstairs wearing a maid's costume and a wig, with some very heavy dark makeup.

"It's a Rocky Horror themed party."

"You serious?"

"Come on Dad, it's just a bit of fun." She kissed his cheek and hopped away on her crutches before he could hear crying coming from upstairs. "I think Fred wants you."

Alec sighed and went to see what the commotion was about. Fred had taken off his Spider-Man costume and was just standing in his big-boy pants with tears on his cheeks.

"Fred, what's going on mate?"

"Me no wanna be Spidy-Man."

"Why not?"

"Don't like Spidy-Man."

"What did Spiderman do?"

"Wanna be cowboy."

"Fred, we're meant to be going trick-or-treating in as soon as your mm gets home."

"Cowboy."

Fred crossed his arms and sulked. Alec wasn't sure of what to do. The shops would be closed or sold out. Out of curiosity, Alec looked in the wardrobe and found a plaid shirt and jeans. All was needed was a cowboy hat and some boots.

"Right, that's all I can find. You sure you don't want to try on the Spiderman costume?"

"No."

"I'm just thinking that it's a wee bit more complete."

"What's more complete?" asked Ellie standing in the doorway.

"Fred wants to be a cowboy but we don't have a hat or boots."

"Actually, if you bear with me a moment." Ellie went to the loft and it was ten minutes of rustling and banging before she shouted, "Eureka!" She emerged with a cowboy hat and boots. "If I am correct then these should fit Fred okay."

"Tom went through a cowboy phase as well."

"Oh god yeah. One viewing of Toy Story and he was hooked on anything cowboy related." Ellie got the costume on and her judgement was correct as she put the boots on. "He looks so cute."

"Right, let's go, got loads of sweets to get wee Fred."

"Hold on, we have to get you changed as well."

"Um… When did I agree to that?"

"Last night. You were so entranced by what I was doing you agreed to do anything I asked."

Alec sighed but only shoved some fangs into his mouth, his point being that vampires are supposed to be conspicuous. He really needed to make sure he was clear headed when he agreed to stuff, though Ellie had secret ways of fogging his brain. The dress she had put on was incredibly distracting to the point where Alec had restrain himself when they went out. Didn't stop them from having a bit of roll play when they got back, even if they did laugh through it.


End file.
